Blood rushed in her ears. Her heart was beating so fast she felt light-headed. He was so close now she could feel the heat of him brush against her. He prowled another step closer.

Golden eyes brightened with mischief. This close she could almost count the flecks of gold and she noticed the various shades of yellow coloring in his irises.

Ragged breaths came fast and hard. She fixed her glasses with a shaky hand.

She silently dared him to reach out and put a single finger on her body. The look of surprise and shock on his face when she took him to the floor in a frenzy of lust would be priceless. Something told her he’d enjoy becoming the hunted right before he turned the table on her and she fell prey to his underhanded tactics. He had her so damn hot and the coil so tight, one more push and they’d be finding out how hard the floor was.

Heat struck with precision until her clit throbbed with an unbidden desire. As though instinct and her senses knew what she wanted without checking in with her first. How many times could she be rejected before she got the memo?

Caged.

She gulped, unable to see the words on the page in front of her. If he even slightly breathed on her she feared the inner beast he awoke would break free and have him splayed out on the bar, the floor, or a freaking booth and having every dirty dream she'd had of the man last night come true. “And...” she tried in a whispery voice, his lips a teasing breath from hers. “Alaska is the Christmas cookie cap…”

He didn’t let her finish.

Live wires juiced with enough power to fuel the cosmos crackled between them. Goosebumps flushed her skin and her lips parted, desperate for more air. More ofanythingto calm the fire that ate at her insides when his lips touched hers.

No, not touched. Claimed. Like everything about her belonged to him and he wanted to imprint that on her any way possible.

“I see those eyes filled with lust and it makes me want to rip your clothes off and taste every delicious inch of your luscious skin. Just give into you already and see if you really are like honey.”

“How do you know it's lust? Maybe I just want something sweet,” she teased just to see his eyes brighten with humor.

“I’ve never been called sweet, angel.” No warning, no prelude, he simply swept in with an arm around her waist and devoured her lips with his once again.

He reached for the clasp of her jeans and popped the button. The hiss of the zipper was sweet torture. It meant he was going to touch her, but she still had a barrier on her body that kept him from taking her fully.

He growled as he peeled back the side of her jeans. “I love red silk on you.”

He slipped a hand inside the band of her panties, over the soft, bare and very wet folds of her pussy and pressed.

She gasped.

The rough, hot thickness of his finger dragged through her juices and he only stopped to tease her virginal entrance long enough to pull a moan from her. He continued up until his attention zeroed in on her pulsating clit. Eager for more and ready to please, hot liquid spilled from her pussy and wet the tiny strip of her panties. She clenched her thighs, locking his hand in place. Would it be bad form to ride his hand until she came?

“You feel it, don’t you? The burn? The need to touch me. Deny it,” he challenged her. “Every damn time I get close to you, look at you, touch you, I tell myself I can’t have you.” He shrugged. “Yet here we are. I’m realizing the lie is going to cost us more than the truth if we don’t sate our desires for one another.” A deep growl rumbled up the back of his throat. “Do you agree, angel?”

Heavy and laden with everything she held pent up inside, Ivy sighed a ragged-sounding exhalation of air and her body melted into his as she bucked her hips.

In his arm was not an entirely bad place to be if she thought about it. “What…” she stuttered, then tried again, this time in a firmer voice. “What are you waiting for? A personalized Christmas card as an invitation?” She grew serious. Dug her nails into the delicious muscles of his back and shoulders, her travel book forgotten on the counter. “Fuck me, Damon.” She shivered. Desire pooled in the pit of her core and spread with the speed of light through her.

“Damon,” she moaned his name. “Now!”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her face into the space between his neck and shoulder.

Her body trembled under his touch. Both possessive and infuriating at once. Those powerful eyes of his pulled her in and she was held spellbound as he stroked her clit. Worked her body and held her safely against him so she could let go.

So she did.

The power of her climax exploded inside her and every muscle in her body pulsated with her release. Damon slipped a finger into her tight channel and the walls of her pussy clenched around the thickness of it.

He kissed her like she was the sole reason he breathed as hot come spilled onto his hand.

For once in her life she dropped all defenses and let the moment take over.

Pulse hammering in her chest, Ivy clutched Damon to her and sighed heavily through the burn seeping into her veins. “I need more, Damon. I’m on fire. Take me upstairs. That wasn’t enough.”

He pulled back and slipped his hand from her panties. Her juices glistened on his fingers. He brought it to his lips and while holding her gaze sucked his finger clean. She whimpered looking on wishing it was her clit between those hot lips.